Change the call?

[Irish Ripple]

This happened last night in an ASA 12-U SP game. Bases empty, ball hit to pitcher, she throws to 1B. One umpire crew (as always) stands behind the plate waiting to make the call. Anyhow, as the ball is arriving 1B, expecting a routine play, he so nonchalantly makes an out call, and then turns his head away. Well, as we all know, there is no such thing as a routine play, especially with kids. Yup, you guessed it, the ball goes into her glove, and bounces right back out, runner is safe, right? NopeÂ…blue would not even attempt to change his call, and his only answer was that he didnÂ’t see it. That was his job to see it! In my opinion, he was embarrassed by not watching the play through its entirety, so he had to stick with his original call.

Anyhow, IÂ’m curious to know how some of you guys would have handled this. We all make mistakes, even umpires. Why not drop the ego for a minute and make the right call? IÂ’m sure everyone in the ballpark would respect this guy more for doing the right thing. I know I would have regardless what team I was cheering for.


JP